By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The setbacks that the people at Dash Air have had to endure to try and launch an air shuttle service from Port Angeles to SeaTac airport and elsewhere in the state have been brutal since announcing their intentions in April of 2021.
For starters, the pandemic set them back by more than a year by causing parts and labor issues in their effort to upgrade the three pre-owned Cessna 402Cs they leased to get service going. In April of last year, the company was informed that another airline applied for the same name, Dash Air, and the US Trademark Office decided to turn both companies down, in part because a third company has the name trademarked for their air cargo operation. Getting a new name approved is still in the works.
A month later, Kenmore Air filed a 96-page complaint with the US Dept. of Transportation alleging Dash was about to start interstate passenger service despite not having the appropriate licensing to do so. Kenmore continued through the summer to file supplemental complaints to the DOT, and the company’s lawyers have been responding to what they call false accusations ever since.
We’ve now learned that Dash had to scrap two of the planes they were counting on to get their business going. Here’s Company President Clint Ostler with more on that.
“We actually lease our aircraft from an aircraft lessor. So, they actually own the airplanes. We unfortunately had to stop work on two of them. The work and refurbishment that was required to meet our standard with the FAA was just too cost-prohibitive, and so those two airplanes were essentially repurposed into parts. The plan is to find another, second aircraft to operate as an operational spare. But, in the meantime, we are going to be potentially working with another FAA-approved carrier to fill in for us if we run into any issues.”
Despite all those setbacks, Ostler says they still intend to begin charter flights on August 11, exactly two years to the day after their original projected launch date. He says scheduled flights to SeaTac and Boeing Field, south of Seattle, will soon follow.